Source: Scott Eisen / Getty New Class Of Lawmakers Sworn Into The House Of Representatives Today is a special day, not just any day — it’s not our anniversary but rather the momentous occasion when the House of Representatives will welcome six phenomenal women for the first time… Vanity Fair marked the occasion with a special photo shoot and featured the six women; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Deb Haaland, Veronica Escobar, and Sharice Davids in an article about the current state of politics. The article notes that the six women have been projecting the message, “We did not come to play,” since being elected. We love that they all posted their new placards… We’re counting on you ladies! Keep up the good work. Continue reading →
Source: Kevin Mazur / Getty California Honors President Obama With A Freeway Tribute Sometimes a reminder that life was once so much simpler is necessary, and what better way to take a walk–or rather, a drive–down memory lane than with a freeway named after President Obama ? Now, residents of Los Angeles can get that reminder during their daily commute; Signs honoring Barack Obama were installed on a stretch of the 134 Freeway this week. The route from State Route 2 in Glendale to Interstate 210 in Pasadena was completed this week, according to reports from USA Today , after being signed into law back in September 2017. Locals are known to love 44, but the placement is also a tribute to the period of time in Obama’s youth when he attended college at Occidental College in Eagle Rock from 1979 to 1981 and later lived in Pasadena. Barack Obama has been out of office for two years now, so it’s only right that he starts getting a few things named in his honor. Back in August, the city of Los Angeles also announced plans to rename Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard. LA is really going all out here, huh? It’s official: our City Council has voted to rename Rodeo Road to Obama Boulevard! We’re thrilled that Angelenos and visitors will forever be reminded of the legacy of President @BarackObama when traveling across L.A. pic.twitter.com/gnVNgBgndn — Mayor Eric Garcetti (@MayorOfLA) August 29, 2018 The more reminders of Obama, the better.
Source: Diane Macdonald / Getty We don’t know what is going on with 2018, but it seems that this is the year where Black people just living their lives seems to prompt folks to call the police called on us. Case in point: A Cleveland bank called the police on a Black customer because they allegedly believed his paycheck was “too high” and was fraudulent. . @Huntington_Bank employee calls cops on black man because they thought his paycheck was too high #racism #racist https://t.co/dU7YjPpkh1 — Raw Story (@RawStory) December 18, 2018 Paul McCowns claims that while he was trying to cash his first paycheck from his new job at an electric company, he was racially profiled by a teller at Huntington Bank, who refused to cash his check. According to WOIO TV , McCowns said his paycheck was a little over $1,000 and that he followed the bank’s rules of showing two forms of identification and a fingerprint, as required for non-Huntington customers. But for some reason, that wasn’t good enough. McCowns says that the employees began looking at the computer screen, questioning the transaction. “They tried to call my employer numerous times. He never picked up the phone,” he told WOIO. After tellers told him they couldn’t cash his check, McCowns said he left the bank. But when he got the parking lot, he saw the police cars and was instructed to get out his car. He was later handcuffed. Police then told him that the tellers had called 911 on him, a fact he didn’t know. WOIO obtained the 911 call and reported that the teller told the authorities, “He’s trying to cash a check and the check is fraudulent. It does not match our records.” When asked if McCowns knew that the police were being called on him, the teller replied, “No.” Shortly after, police got McCowns employer on the phone who confirmed that he worked for him and that his paycheck was that amount. A bank representative apologized for the teller’s behavior to the news channel, explaining that because of 11 cases of fraud in recent months, their employees were being “hyper-vigilant.” “We sincerely apologize to Mr. McCowns for this extremely unfortunate event,” the bank said in a statement. “We accept responsibility for contacting the police as well as our own interactions with Mr. McCowns. Anyone who walks into a Huntington branch should feel welcomed. Regrettably, that did not occur in this instance and we are very sorry.” However, McCowns isn’t hearing it. He wants for the bank to apologize to him directly for racial profiling. Meanwhile, a bank rep claims McCowns has yet to return their calls. RELATED NEWS: #PoolPatrolPatty: White Apartment Manager Fired After Calling Police On Black Man For Wearing Socks #MowingWhileBlack: Neighbors Call Police On 12-Year-Old Boy Cutting The Grass #PermitPatty: White Woman Calls Police on 8-Year-Old Black Girl Selling Water [ione_media_gallery src=”https://hellobeautiful.com” id=”2999417″ overlay=”true”]
T he in-custody death of a woman who languished in a Texas jail for months over an alleged minor nonviolent offense showed how the cash bail system can tragically kill people. See Also: Fight For Bail And Pretrial Reform Is Steadily Gaining Steam This Year The Bexar County medical examiner concluded that 61-year-old Janice Dotson-Stephens died Friday of natural causes, KSAT-TV reported. She was arrested in July for trespassing on private property and was sitting behind bars ever since because she couldn’t afford the $300 bond. The news outlet speculated that local bail bond companies would have charged her just $30, or 10 percent of her bond, to arrange her release. Dotson-Stephens’ family said they were unaware that she was in jail and believed she was getting treatment at a state hospital for mental illness. “We just felt that she shouldn’t have died as a criminal in the jailhouse. She wasn’t a criminal. She had mental health illness,” her daughter-in-law, Leticia Dotson , said . Anger over her death lit a fire under Alec Karakatsanis , the founder and executive director of Civil Rights Corps who blamed society for Dotson-Stephens’ unfair treatment because she was poor and Black. “We are all responsible for the injustices of our legal system, and for the suffering inflicted in our name. We must all find out about what our court bureaucracy is doing to poor people and people of color every day, and then we should all organize against it,” he told NewsOne in an email Tuesday afternoon. A woman was held in jail for six months because she couldn’t afford to pay her $300 bond. She just died in custody. This is tragic and exactly why we need to reform our money bail system. https://t.co/FAQEoUQYVp — Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) December 18, 2018 African-Americans have long been disproportionate victims of the cash bail system. Nationally, Blacks get detained in jail at nearly five times the rate as whites. Moreover, African-Americans aged 18 to 29 typically receive significantly higher bail amounts than other defendants. Activists were pushing for bail and pretrial reforms across the nation and some progressive local governments were instituting reforms. In Atlanta, for example, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed an ordinance in February that eliminated cash bonds for release from the City of Atlanta Detention Center. The movement received a major boost in July through a federal appeals court decision that upheld the constitutionality of a New Jersey law that reformed the state’s bail system. At the same time, the ruling provided a court-approved reform model that other states could follow. In the New Jersey ruling , judges acknowledged that the state instituted the reforms to address inequalities—also found in other states—that kept poor people behind bars for nearly a year on average while awaiting a hearing because they couldn’t afford to pay bail of $2,500 or less. It appeared that the mistreatment of Dotson-Stephens may run deeper. The court ordered her to undergo a psychological evaluation while in custody, but the results were not reported immediately. SEE ALSO: Twitter Reacts To Old Racist Tweets From Black NFL Player’s White Fiancée This Is Personal! Hakeem Jeffries Targeted By Ocasio-Cortez [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3840429″ overlay=”true”]
There are several accepted facts about Tom Cruise that seem to come up in every conversation about the actor: He’s short; he jumped on Oprah’s couch ; and he believes depression is what happens when the alien souls that infect your body start feeding on the happiness portion of your brain. That last part may sound bonkers, but as a member of the Church of Scientology, Tom has been the mayor of Bonkersville for his entire adult life. The CoS has come to define Cruise’s career and public image, and rumors about the actor’s bizarre commitment to his controversial religion have been especially prevalent in the years since his divorce from Katie Holmes. One claim that’s dogged Cruise for over a decade is that he’s in the habit of “auditioning” women to be his partner — all with the help of CS officials. Actresses have come forward to claim that they auditioned to be Cruise’s girlfriend , but reps for the actor have repeatedly shot those rumors down. Now, a former Scientologist named Valerie Haney has claimed that such auditions “absolutely happened.” In fact, she claims that Holmes participated in the audition process and “won” the right to be Cruise’s wife. In a scathing interview published today by The Hollywood Reporter , Haney claims that Cruise and the CoS are both essential to one another’s survival. The actress says that Cruise’s relationship with current CoS head David Miscavige is inappropriately close and that both men have a history of becoming intimately involved in one another’s personal lives. “Tom Cruise worships David Miscavige like a god,” says Haney , who was a member of the organization’s elite Sea Org for 22 years. “They worshiped each other.” Haney says Miscavige orchestrated Cruise’s girlfriend auditions and Cruise was an active participant in the dissolution of Miscavige’s marriage to Shelly Miscavige, who has been missing from the public eye for over a decade. “Shelly was pissed off all the time,” Haney says of the Miscavige’s final days together. “Dave was raging at everyone day after day … and he had nothing for Shelly. So she was crying every night.” Haney is currently collaborating with actress and anti-Scientology activist Leah Remini, who filed a missing person report on Shelly in 2013. Church officials have issued a statement deriding Haney as a paid employee of Remini’s: “The Church of Scientology stated that Valerie Haney is outright lying and making up stories, as part of her employment for Leah Remini,” the statement reads. Cruise, of course, has not commented on the matter. He generally keeps mum on matters pertaining to his religion, his former wives, and his daughter, Suri Cruise, whom he reportedly hasn’t seen in several years. View Slideshow: 53 Fun Photos of Tom Cruise
Source: Gary Miller / Getty Travis Scott Gets His Own Day In His Hometown Of Houston All of Travis Scott’s efforts for his hometown have been appreciated, and now he’s getting some love back from the city that raised him. The city of Houston, Texas has named November 18 “Astroworld Day” in honor of the rapper. Named after his highly-anticipated album Astroworld , the city’s Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the honor following Scott’s inaugural Astroworld Festival, which brought 40,000 of Scott’s fans to Houston. Travis accepted the proclamation recognizing him as an ambassador for the arts, education, and youth initiatives at Houston’s city hall. During his acceptance speech, Scott said that the inspiration behind the festival and LP was Six Flag’s now-closed Astroworld in Houston. He said in his acceptance speech, “I grew up here my whole life. I was inspired by Astroworld. In ’05 when they took it away, it kind of like took a big piece of my heart away. I didn’t have anywhere to go. I just wanted to kind of bring back that feeling and give this city something so they can always have something fun to do.” Congrats to Travis on being honored by Houston in such a big way!
T allahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum shot down President Donald Trump ’s election fraud claim and his call to name GOP candidate Ron DeSantis the winner of Florida’s gubernatorial race. SEE ALSO: Black America ‘Did The Thing’ With High Voter Turnout On Election Day Gillum rallied supporters Monday night at St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Boynton Beach, Florida, saying that Trump and current Republican Gov. Rick Scott are trying to rush the recount process, WPEC-TV reported. “If we don’t swear in a new governor until January, what is the rush for you? Count every vote,” Gillum said. “They’re claiming voter fraud because supervisors of elections are counting votes.” That statement was in response to Trump’s tweet on Monday morning. The president stated, “The Florida Election should be called in favor of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis in that large numbers of new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged. An honest vote count is no longer possible-ballots massively infected. Must go with Election Night!” Rick Scott is using every stunt within his power to suppress the vote. Keep fighting, Andrew Gillum! https://t.co/PVSZ72RJrv — NewsOne (@newsone) November 12, 2018 Gillum continues his fight to become Florida’s first African-American governor in a race that was too close to call. Unofficial results showed that DeSantis led Gillum by 0.41 percent, ABC News reported. Under Florida law, election officials ordered a machine recount on Saturday because the vote margin was less than 0.5 percent. All 67 counties face a state-ordered deadline of Thursday to finish their recounts. Meanwhile, Gillum isn’t alone in calling out Trump. Circuit Chief Judge Jack Tuter declared on Monday that there’s no evidence of voter fraud in the recount. However, Gillum told his audience that there were voter suppression issues during the election, as well as some irregularities . In one instance, a heavily Republican district allowed 150 voters to scan and email their ballots, which violated state law. “Regardless of what the outcome of what this race is, we want every single vote in all 67 counties — Republican, Democrat or otherwise — that every single vote be counted,” he said. SEE ALSO: Stacey Abrams Campaign Files Federal Lawsuit For Every Vote To Be Counted Watch Racist White Women Harass An Andrew Gillum Supporter: ‘Go Back To Africa!’ [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3835670″ overlay=”true”]
I t’s been nine years since retired NBA star Jalen Rose opened the doors to a charter school that he created in Detroit and his effort to further education in the area has proven to be a success. According to Ebony , Rose’s school has a 93 percent graduation rate and a 100 percent college acceptance rate. Jalen Rose says In June, it will be the first time JRLA scholars that graduated from colleges across the country will have the opportunity to attend our graduation and speak to the graduates of our senior class. https://t.co/iWCaQoxBwN — EBONY MAGAZINE (@EBONYMag) October 28, 2018 The school—which is called the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy—was created for youth in the 9th through 12th grade, the news outlet writes. There are currently 400 students who attend the school. In an effort to ensure that students feel supported throughout their high school journey and after graduation, each student has a support group that is made up of current students and those who have graduated to help them stay on track. JRLA also provides students with leadership courses that delve into how to navigate real-life situations surrounding drugs, violence, and other issues that they may have to confront in their everyday lives. The school also emphasizes the importance of civic engagement and empowers its students to evoke change in their communities. JRLA is tuition-free and has an open enrollment. Rose says that he understands the essentiality of having access to a good education. “Education is a valuable tool that unlocks the future of so many young people, and the dynamics in our country have changed, which is [why I chose to] be the founder of a tuition-free public charter high school that gets zero state funding for the facility,” he told the news outlet. “It’s crucial for us to get our scholars out in the community to do charity work and to give them the life skills they will need to be successful in the endeavors that they have, and it’s more for us than just obviously the curriculum that’s required to graduate from school.” Rose isn’t the only celebrity who is using his platform and resources to further education. Almost a year after opening a charter school in Harlem, Sean Combs recently announced that he will donate $1 million for the creation of a school in the Bronx. SEE ALSO: Diddy Donates $1M To Fund New Bronx Charter School Will Smith Uses His Philadelphia Mural To Support Education [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3834995″ overlay=”true”]
G eorgia’s Democratic nominee for governor Stacey Abrams dismissed her GOP rival Brian Kemp ’s latest maneuver as a “desperate” attempt to distract voters. SEE ALSO: Stacey Abrams’ Unapologetically Black Journey To The Doorstep Of History Appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union with Jake Tapper,” the host Jake Tapper informed Abrams that Kemp, who’s also Georgia secretary of state, opened an investigation of the Georgia Democratic Party into possible cybercrimes. Kemp reportedly alleges that state Democrats may have hacked into Georgia’s voter registration system. “This is a desperate attempt on the part of my opponent to distract people from the fact that two different federal judges found him derelict in his duty and forced him to allow absentee ballots to be counted,” she said after hearing about Kemp’s allegations for the first time. Abrams could make history on Tuesday as the nation’s first African-American woman governor. Kemp, who oversees the state’s election system, has tried to use every trick in the book to suppress the Black vote for the 2018 election. Former President Jimmy Carter asked Kemp to recuse him to ensure a fair election . But Kemp continues to decline. Here's the secret to @staceyabrams ' unapologetically Black journey to the doorsteps of political history… https://t.co/Dx6J4E1zZi #RepresentTheVote @K_JeanPierre pic.twitter.com/fv5K81pWGD — NewsOne (@newsone) November 4, 2018 On Oct. 30, a federal judge, for a second time , put a halt to his attempt to throw out absentee ballots, predominately targeting voters of color. A separate court upheld those two decisions on Friday . Meanwhile, a white supremacist group is suspected of sending out racist robocalls to an unknown number of Georgia voters, the Associated Press reported on Saturday. The automated calls reportedly included impersonations of Oprah Winfrey , who led a rally on Thursday for Abrams. An Idaho man named Scott Rhodes is believed to be behind the calls through his organization The Road to Power, which is also linked to racist robocalls targeting Tallahassee’s African-American Mayor Andrew Gillum who’s running for governor of Florida. The calls came days after President Donald Trump , who endorsed Kemp, called Abrams unqualified to be governor . “He’s wrong,” Abrams told CNN on Sunday, pointing to her academic and work background. Abrams noted that she was the Democratic leader in the Georgia House of Representative for seven years, a deputy city attorney and a successful businesswoman. “I think they are seeing the same numbers we’re seeing. Early voting is up dramatically,” Abrams stated. “We have a plan in place for remarkable turnout on Election Day…and I think they’re (Kemp and Trump) getting scared.” SEE ALSO: Mayor Andrew Gillum Temporarily Suspends Campaign After Shooting In Tallahassee Can Oprah Winfrey Help Stacey Abrams Win Georgia? [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3835026″ overlay=”true”]
T allahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum delivered a powerful debate performance Wednesday night against his Republican rival for Florida governor Ron DeSantis . See Also: White Supremacists Release Anti-Andrew Gillum Robocall Featuring Monkey Sounds Gillum, who’s making a bid to become the state’s first African-American governor, shredded the GOP candidate with his sharp wit and piercing comments. Here are some of his best shots. Here are 5 takeaways from Andrew Gillum's second debate against Ron DeSantis for Florida governor… https://t.co/iIj6fKkA0j #RepresentTheVote pic.twitter.com/tI4UQjYrrm — NewsOne (@newsone) October 25, 2018 DeSantis’ racism When DeSantis was cornered on his close ties to racists, he began raising his voice and getting defensive. “As my grandmother used to say, a hit dog will holler.” He added this gem: “I’m not calling him a racist. But the racists believe he’s a racist.” As my grandmother used to say — a hit dog will holler. pic.twitter.com/kC34Ldd0is — Andrew Gillum (@AndrewGillum) October 25, 2018 Political divisiveness The candidates were asked whether the divisiveness in the nation’s political discourse has pushed some people to the edge, prompting actions like sending pipe bombs in the mail to high-profile Democrats. Gillum argued that DeSantis is part of the problem. He pointed to comments DeSantis made on Fox News in which he warned Floridians not to “monkey this up” by voting for his Black opponent. Soon after DeSantis blew that racist dog whistle, neo-Nazis began sending out robocalls that included jungle music and monkey calls in the background. “My opponent has run this race very close to the Trump handbook where we call each other names.” Teacher salaries Gillum noted that teachers’ salaries in Florida are ranked the 45th lowest of the 50 states. “If my grandmother was here, she wouldn’t just say that’s a shame, she would say that’s a crying shame.” Gillum called out DeSantis for telling lies about his policy positions “In the last debate, Mr. DeSantis lied 21 times. Now, today makes the 22nd, and we’ve just started this debate.” “Mr. DeSantis in the last debate lied 21 times. 21 times. And now today makes the 22nd and we just started this debate.” – @AndrewGillum #FLGovDebate pic.twitter.com/L6r7zXdpDE — Brynna Quillin (@brynnaquillin) October 24, 2018 Medicaid expansion and healthcare policy DeSantis tried desperately to defend his multiple votes in Congress to end Obamacare without having a suitable replacement. Gillum explained to the former congressman that healthcare is a top issue for Floridians. He recalled his childhood experiences. “I remember having to wait for the free dental clinic to come through my neighborhood to have my teeth cleaned.” DeSantis questioned the moderator’s data from the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office’s report that rejected the healthcare plan that the former congressman and his GOP colleagues promoted. Gillum delivered this zinger. “Mr. DeSantis could have a monopoly on his opinion, but he doesn’t have a monopoly on facts. Facts matter.” Corruption scandal One of the big questions before the debate rematch was how Gillum would respond to an onslaught from DeSantis over an FBI probe into possible Tallahassee government corruption, in which the mayor was reportedly not the target of the investigation. On Tuesday, text messages were made public about the source of tickets Gillum received to the Broadway musical “Hamilton” that appear to contradict his statements at the first debate on the issue. “In the state of Florida we have 99 issues, and Hamilton ain’t one of them.” The Republican taxes overhaul Gillum called the GOP tax overhaul that boosted the bottom line for corporations a failure for working class families. The Republicans promised that there would be a “magical trickle down” to poor people. Instead of a pay raise to working class families, the tax overhaul gave the nation something else. “They have drilled a deep hole into the national debt and working people haven’t seen any appreciable rise in their wages.” . @AndrewGillum delivered a powerful rejection of Trump's hateful politics of division at last night's debate for Florida governor. We're with Gillum! pic.twitter.com/FuO5cOLsFV — MoveOn (@MoveOn) October 22, 2018 Families continue to struggle financially While the Trump administration and Republicans tout falling unemployment rates, wages have not increased. “Forty-four percent of people in the state of Florida say they can’t make ends meet at the end of the month. Mr. DeSantis’ big donors may be doing just fine. They’ve got their yachts and boats. For the rest of the working people in this state, they simply want a wage they could live on.” Immigration “We’re not going to criminalize people of their personhood simply because you’re a brown-skinned person or that you speak a language that may be of a foreign tongue to Mr. DeSantis or you live in a neighborhood that may include more brown people. That doesn’t, in and of itself, subject you to racial profiling. That’s the essence of what he would be promoting.” SEE ALSO: Ron DeSantis’ Racist History Didn’t Just Begin With His ‘Monkey’ Attack On Andrew Gillum Megyn Kelly Hypocritical On Abuse Of Women [ione_media_gallery src=”https://newsone.com” id=”3833255″ overlay=”true”]
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